The past few years have been very good for horror fans, as innovative and quality movies have arrived in theaters, and made a ton of money at the box office. This includes some remakes of classics, including Blumhouse's Halloween and 2017's IT. Pennywise the dancing clown will return to terrify audiences with IT: Chapter 2, picking up decades after the story wrapped up on the first movie.
There's a fantastic cast attached to IT: Chapter 2, including James McAvoy, Jessica Chastain, and Bill Hader. The latter is playing the adult version of foulmouthed Richie, taking on the role from Stranger Things favorite Finn Wolfhard. But it turns out that Hader actually kept ruining takes during filming. As the SNL alum revealed:
This is my first horror movie, and I’m terrible at acting scared, apparently. When I’m scared, I think I smile. Like, I get nervous and I smile… We would do takes and the director Andy Muschetti would come and he’s like, ‘Bill, you need to be scared, man.’ I go, I was terrified! He goes, ‘No man, you’re smiling the whole time. What’s wrong with you?’ And it’s true.
Well, that's hilarious. We all have our own nervous tics, and it looks like Bill Hader tends to smile when he's terrified. While that might work in his personal life, it tended to ruin the moment during sequences of IT: Chapter 2.
Bill Hader's comments to Collider show how much levity is truly on the set of horror movies. While the finished product may give audiences nightmares, there's plenty of times to crack jokes while filming movies like IT. Especially when one of the actors is smiling through the upcoming sequel's most terrifying scenes. Whoops.
Fans of the first IT (aren't we all?) are no doubt wondering what type of scares are ahead for the sequel, and which sequences are the ones that Bill Hader accidentally smiled through. The first movie was rife with jump scares, and horrifying imagery of Pennywise that makes the original miniseries look like a children's story in comparison.
The casting of Bill Hader as Richie was a major selling point for IT: Chapter 2 before it began production. As soon as the first movie was released, fans began theorizing who could play the adult version of the Losers' Club. Hader was actually suggested by Finn Wolfhard himself, as the young actor did press for the first film. And that came to fruition, much to the joy of both Wolfhard and the general public.
When IT: Chapter 2 arrives in theaters, adult Richie has become a successful DJ in Los Angeles. While that seems like the perfect career for him, he must return to Derry to follow through on his pact, and hopefully destroy Pennywise once and for all.
IT: Chapter 2 will arrive in theaters on September 6th, 2019. In the meantime, check out our 2019 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.
